Matt Bennett

Beyond Opinion is a collection of essays by the author and various members of his staff. The aim of the book is to provide practical answers to contemporary challenges to the faith. A valuable section of this book aids the reader in understanding the questions behind those challenges and then equips the reader to not only know, but to live out the answers.

The best introduction to the tone of this book is this quote of Ravi Zacharias from the Introduction:

Sometime in the 1980′s, Christians in the West began to label evangelistic techniques and reconfigure church services to reduce the message to the lowest level of cognition of the audience. As nobly intentioned as that was, the end result was the lowest level of writing and gospel preaching one could imagine. Mass media was brought to aid this purpose, and before long evangelicals were seen to be masters in entertainment and minimalists in thought.

The variety of authors and their diverse cultural, professional and educational backgrounds make this a very engaging book. It will challenge you to think through the issues surrounding living out the Christian faith in a modern world in a practical and compelling manner. This book is an excellent introduction to and survey of modern apologetics. It will likely be a bit “deeper” than what many Christians are used to reading but, referring again to the author’s quote above, I can’t help but think that this is the purpose of this timely book.

“To evangelize is to so present Christ Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Saviour, serve Him as their King in the fellowship of the church.” – From the Anglican Archbishop’s Committee on Evangelism, 1918

“To evangelize is to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gifts of the Spirit to all who repent and believe. Our Christian presence in the world is indispensable to evangelism, and so is that kind of dialogue whose purpose is to listen sensitively in order to understand. But evangelism itself is the proclamation of the historical, biblical Christ as Saviour and Lord, with a view to persuading people to come to him personally and so be reconciled to God. In issuing the gospel invitation we have no liberty to conceal the cost of discipleship. Jesus still calls all who would follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and identify themselves with his new community. The results of evangelism include obedience to Christ, incorporation into his Church and responsible service in the world.” – The Lausanne Covenant, 1974

“To evangelize is to invite others through the power of the Holy Spirit to put their trust in God through Jesus Christ, to accept Jesus as their Savior and follow Him as their leader in everyday life as members of a local church.” – The Journey Church

“Evangelism is attracting a crowd to worship.” – Nelson Searcy